DEC releases revised draft on fracking (report added)

Two years to the months after DEC’s initial draft supplemental report on the natural gas drilling technique known as hydrofracking, the agency has released its revised draft. View it in its component parts or download the 1,500-plus-page [corrected] document here.

The release kicks off the 90-day public comment period, which will include four public hearings in November, in the Marcellus Shale region in Broome, Steuben and Sullivan counties [amended: the upstate locations for the hearings are TBA in October] as well as NYC.

The press release that accompanies the revised draft focuses on its predictions for economic impact:

The draft socio-economic analysis of the impacts associated with high-volume hydraulic fracturing activities found that when the well construction rate is at its maximum level, total direct employment could reach 6,198 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers under a low-development scenario and 24,795 FTE workers under the average-development scenario. These jobs are estimated to bring $419.6 million to $1.7 billion in earnings for the workers.

Construction jobs account for 4,408 to 17,634 FTE positions. These employment figures correspond to the annual construction of 413 horizontal and vertical wells under the low-development scenario and 1,652 horizontal and vertical wells under the average-development scenario. At the peak of development, operational jobs are expected to range from 1,790 FTE workers under the low-development scenario to 7,161 FTE workers under the average-development scenario.

The proposed drilling also could generate additional indirect employment in other sectors of the economy. Indirect employment is expected to range from 7,293 FTE workers under the low-development scenario to an additional 29,174 FTE workers under the average-development scenario with an additional $202.3 million and $809.2 million in earnings.

Here’s the full report; you might be better served using the link above to connect to specific sections — as they say in the car commercials, it’s huuuuge-uh:

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation opened a more than 90-day public comment period on its revised draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement, DEC Commissioner Joe Martens announced today. In addition, the agency will issue its proposed regulations governing high-volume hydraulic fracturing in early October.

“Throughout this process, DEC’s number one priority is to protect the state’s drinking water and environment in concert with exploring options to safely and efficiently extract the state’s natural gas. This will enable New York’s economy to benefit from this resource and the job opportunities that development is expected to bring,” Martens said. “We look forward to receiving comments from the public that will help inform the final conditions for high-volume hydraulic fracturing in New York state. The proposed environmental mitigation measures and the regulations that codify those measures go hand in hand. It makes sense to move forward with them together and hold simultaneous public comment periods and hearings.”

The public comment period for the revised draft SGEIS begins today and concludes Dec. 12. The public comment period for the regulations will begin in early October and will run concurrently with the SGEIS public comment period. DEC plans to hold four public hearings during the comment period for the SGEIS and regulations in November. The hearings will be held in counties within the Marcellus Shale region, as well as New York City. Exact dates and locations will be released in early October.

Under the public comment schedule, the public will have more than 150 days to review the proposed environmental mitigation measures in the draft SGEIS, which were released July 1, and more than 90 days to review the SGEIS sections and mitigation measures addressing socioeconomic, community character, visual, noise and transportation impacts. Once the comment period is complete, DEC will review the comments on the draft SGEIS and proposed regulations and prepare responses to be released with the final SGEIS. No permits for high-volume hydraulic fracturing will be issued until the SGEIS is finalized and DEC issues the required Findings Statement.

Comments should focus on changes in the 2011 revised draft SGEIS. Comments previously submitted on the 2009 draft will be considered in the final SGEIS and do not need to be resubmitted.

The draft socio-economic analysis of the impacts associated with high-volume hydraulic fracturing activities found that when the well construction rate is at its maximum level, total direct employment could reach 6,198 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers under a low-development scenario and 24,795 FTE workers under the average-development scenario. These jobs are estimated to bring $419.6 million to $1.7 billion in earnings for the workers.

Construction jobs account for 4,408 to 17,634 FTE positions. These employment figures correspond to the annual construction of 413 horizontal and vertical wells under the low-development scenario and 1,652 horizontal and vertical wells under the average-development scenario. At the peak of development, operational jobs are expected to range from 1,790 FTE workers under the low-development scenario to 7,161 FTE workers under the average-development scenario.

The proposed drilling also could generate additional indirect employment in other sectors of the economy. Indirect employment is expected to range from 7,293 FTE workers under the low-development scenario to an additional 29,174 FTE workers under the average-development scenario with an additional $202.3 million and $809.2 million in earnings.

The revised draft SGEIS proposes new mitigation measures to address impacts to communities and local governments. A significant mitigation measure is to limit simultaneous construction of well pads and wells in proximity to each other. DEC will consider this measure in consultation with local governments to lessen cumulative impacts. This approach would help mitigate impacts on local community character, as well as cumulative noise, visual and traffic impacts.

Additional proposed mitigation measures include:

Traffic: require drillers to produce detailed transportation plans outlining the proposed number of trucks, truck routes and times of day of truck operations, and assessing the conditions of those roads;

Noise: site-specific measures could include setbacks, site layout design that takes advantage of topography, noise barriers and special permit conditions;

and Visual: site-specific measures could include screening, relocation, camouflage or disguise, using non-reflective materials and controlling off-site migration of lighting.